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Albany, NY - A new guidebook designed to help local governments launch and maintain Web sites is one of the firsts tool to come out of the electronic government program at the University at Albany's Center for Technology in Government (CTG). 

"Untangle the Web: Delivering Municipal Services Through the Internet" is a 20-page guidebook created to help county and municipal government officials understand ways of doing business on the Internet. The guide contains practical lessons, advice, and Web page samples. It draws from the experiences of a group of New York city, town, and county officials who shared insights into how their governments launched and currently manage their Web sites.

"'Untangle the Web' can help local governments achieve the benefits and opportunities of getting online without being overwhelmed by the challenges of developing, launching, and maintaining Web sites," said CTG Director Sharon Dawes.

The new guidebook is one of the first tools developed as part of CTG's yearlong "E-Government: Creating Tools of the Trade" applied research program, which is designed to support the planning and implementation of e-government. This program supports e-government initiatives at all levels of government with practical advice, successful models, and well-grounded guides. Many of the lessons and guidelines in "Untangle the Web" came from town, city, and county officials who shared their governments' Web development stories with CTG researchers. "Untangle the Web" draws from the experiences of officials in the following New York governments: the cities of Albany, Oneonta, and Saratoga Springs; the towns of Bethlehem, Colonie, and Queensbury; and the counties of Allegany, Montgomery, Orleans, Rockland, and Schoharie.

"This guide is not designed to persuade local officials of the value of putting their government on the Web," Dawes said. "Clearly, there are both opportunities and challenges to embracing Internet technology. Instead, we try to help them untangle the Web in a way that makes sense for local resources and community needs."

The mission of the Center for Technology in Government at the University at Albany is to foster public sector innovation, enhance capability, generate public value, and support good governance. We carry out this mission through applied research, knowledge sharing, and collaboration at the intersection of policy, management, and technology.